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The government has taken a special initiative to increase the scope of Mahila Samman Bachat Patra Yojana. Under this, now this account can be opened in all government and selected private banks. Till now this facility was being provided only in post offices. In terms of returns, this scheme is beating bank and post office FDs. Bank of India has become the first public sector bank in the country to launch Mahila Samman Savings Certificate. Private sector Axis, ICICI, HDFC and IDBI Bank have got approval to start this scheme.

Better than FD
Mahila Samman Nidhi is getting 7.5 percent annually. If we compare the returns, then 6.9 percent interest is being received in one year FD of the post office, 7 percent interest in two and three year FDs. If we look at the returns of FDs of major banks, then the country’s largest government bank SBI is paying 6.80 percent interest on FDs of 1 to 2 years and 7 percent interest on deposits of 2 to 3 years. PNB is offering 6.50 to 7 percent interest on FDs of 1 to 5 years. More or less similar interest is being received on FDs of other government banks. According to this, the interest of Mahila Samman Yojana is better than that of bank and post office FDs.

How is the plan?
Mahila Samman Bachat Patra is a government small savings scheme, which is exclusively for women. The aim of the government to launch this scheme is to increase the participation of women in the investment and financial system. In this account can be opened from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2025. In this the maturity period is of 2 years. For example, if you invest on 5th July 2023, then after two years i.e. on 5th July 2025, the money will be returned with interest.

How to open account?
To open an account under Mahila Samman Yojana in the post office, you have to fill Form-1. There is no need to open a savings account for this. You will get the passbook of the amount you invest. A minimum of Rs 1000 and a maximum of Rs 2 lakh can be deposited in this. Then whether it is through one account or with the help of more than one account. In the name of minor girls, their guardians i.e. parents can open the account. An SBI official told that at present this facility is available only in public sector banks.

Who can open the account?
In Mahila Samman Yojana, an account can be opened in the name of any woman in the family. In the name of minor girls, their guardians i.e. parents can open the account. This scheme has the facility of lump sum investment. If money is arranged, more than one account can also be opened in this scheme.

Interest calculation
In the Mahila Samman scheme, an interest of 7.5 percent is fixed annually. Interest is calculated on a quarterly compounding basis. If you deposit one lakh rupees in this account now, you will get Rs 1,16,000 after two years at 7.5% interest. Similarly, investing Rs 1.5 lakh will get Rs 1,74,000 at the end of the maturity period. This includes interest income of Rs.24,000. On investing two lakh rupees, you will get Rs 2,32,000 at the time of maturity.

When can money be withdrawn?
The maturity of Mahila Samman Yojana is two years. However, you can withdraw money from it even before maturity. It has the facility of partial withdrawal after one year of account opening. However, only 40 percent of the total amount deposited in the account can be withdrawn. Wherein if the account holder dies. Or even if he has a fatal disease, the account can be closed. Necessary documents will have to be given for this. After 6 months of opening the account, it can be closed even without any reason, but in this case 5.5 percent will be given.
tax calculation

Investment in Mahila Samman Yojana will not get any tax exemption under Section 80C like small savings schemes like PPF and NSC. However, there would be no tax deducted at source on interest.